Are Ethics for Suckers?

Check out this Newsweek article from April 10: http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/10/are-ethics-for-suckers.html

In the aftermath of the resignation of Warren Buffet's protege, David Sokol (who resigned after pocketing $3 million from trading stock of a chemical company Berkshire Hathaway was acquiring), questions are once again being asked about what it really takes to succeed in finance in this country.  The article questions whether bankers think of the law as something to be scoffed at, and ethics as only for suckers.  Even Vanguard Group founder John Bogle says "What you're seeing on Wall Street is disgusting".  Bogle uses the phrase "moral relativism", which I think perfectly describes the problem we have as a society, not just on Wall Street. Former Goldman Sachs Chief John Whitehead is quoted as saying "We're dealing with more difficult problems than ever before, and its simply harder to maintain standards of ethics and doing business."

The article describes a culture of success where more and more people feel they need to bend the rules, because the rewards are so way out of proportion.  It concludes that the geometric growth of the money and scope of Wall Street has put an enormous strain on ethics and business, leaving a path of reputational destruction.  For example, Goldman Sachs became known in the 80s for its integrity and not doing the thing that made the most money through policies such as avoiding the financing of hostile takeovers.  Today, Goldman has been "cast as an empire of greed."  A former Lehman Brothers lawyer says that "Morals, ethics--thats not their job. The view on the Street is that that's Congress's job".

Now, all we have to do is get lawmakers to hold companies accountable for strengthening a culture of ethics and integrity in their operations, which goes beyond strict adherence to laws which are often intentionally fuzzy and imprecise.  Sadly, however, Congressional credibility is lacking in the ethics arena.  How about an independent ethics assessment of the Congress as a good place to start?